Harry's and Sev's Strange Night in the Hosp Wing
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Just a little drabble about Harry and Professor Snape spending a night of talking and helping each other in the hospital wing. Completely AU, partly OOC.


**Harry's and Severus' Strange Night in the Hospital Wing**

Harry sighed, lying wide-awake in a crisp white bed. He had to spend the night in the hospital wing with a cold that had been resistant against two doses of pepper-up potion during the last two days, so that Madam Pomfrey had ordered him to stay at least over the night. Apart from a headache his throat and suddenly also his ears were very sore and he felt hot and cold at the same time. He had slept until around midnight, but then his condition had begun to bother him and he wasn't able to sleep anymore. He couldn't even ask Madam Pomfrey for a sleeping potion, since she was away at St. Mungo's during the night as she had told him when she came to give him a fever reducer and a pain relieving potion in the evening.

Suddenly, he heard a thud, and he could see a dark figure appear in the middle of the room. Harry quickly put his glasses on, retrieved his wand from under his pillow, and hurried over to the dark figure that remained unmoving on the floor. Banishing the black Death Eater robes, he could make out the tall figure of the Potions master, who had scrunched his forehead as if he was in pain. "Professor?" Harry croaked, noticing that his voice was getting hoarse and not exactly sure what he should do with the professor, "Are you awake? Can I help you get in a bed?"

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?" the teacher asked impatiently.

"She's away at St. Mungo's over the night," Harry replied. "Can you try to get up, Professor, or should I magically move you on a bed? Then I can get you a potion or whatever you need, sir."

The professor grabbed the hand Harry was extending to him in order to help him get up and heavily leaned onto the boy as he helped him into the bed next to his own. "Thanks," he muttered as he stretched out on the bed.

"Professor, what's wrong? Can I get you a potion?" Harry asked worriedly, watching the man closely.

"Need the Anti Cruciatus potion. Go in my private quarters, three doors behind the door of my office, password is 'Lily', enter the room with the green door, and the potion is on the third shelf from the left in the second row from the bottom. It's a dark green potion and is labelled 'Anti Cruciatus'. Hurry please."

"All right, Professor," Harry replied and rushed out of the room, mumbling '_third shelf from the left second row, third shelf..._' while he hurried down to the dungeons. '_Password is Lily, now that's strange_,' he mused; however, his fevered mind wasn't able to diagnose what was strange, and Harry resumed concentrating on the coordinates for the potion, '_third shelf from the left, second row from the bottom..._'

Finally, he reached the third door after Severus' office, told the wizard in the picture the password and entered the teacher's quarters. Looking for the green door, he noticed that the room was very light and comfortable with huge book shelves covering the stone walls. He dashed into the teacher's private lab and grabbed the potion, before he stormed back up the stairs to the hospital wing.

"Let me help you sit up a bit, sir," he told the professor, placing the potion on the night table, before he gently steadied the man to bring him in a slightly upright position. Totally exhausted, Harry sat down on the edge of the bed and held the potion against the teacher's lips, watching relieved as he downed the potion greedily. When he helped the man lie down again, it only took a few seconds until Severus visibly relaxed, opened his eyes, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter."

"No problem, professor; do you need anything else?" Harry enquired hoarsely in spite of feeling worse by the minute.

"Give me a few minutes, and then I'll be able to get me a headache potion and a glass of water by myself," the teacher replied and continued, "Seeing that you're here overnight, you should probably head back to bed."

Harry resisted the urge to lie down immediately and went into Poppy's office to retrieve the requested potion and water for the professor first. Once more, he helped the teacher to sit up and held the phial to his lips followed by the glass of water, which the professor gratefully took into his own hands. "I'm all right now, Potter, thanks. Now, go back to bed."

Harry slowly dragged himself back to his bed, feeling absolutely horrible. He lay down and sighed in relief as his head hit the pillow; however, he couldn't sleep. He just lay there with his eyes closed, listening to the professor's even breathing. Suddenly, he felt an icy hand on his forehead and opened his eyes in a jolt.

"You're burning up, Mr. Potter," Severus said in a soft, silky voice, sitting down on the edge of Harry's bed. Did Madam Pomfrey give you something against the fever?"

"I think so," Harry replied wearily, before he asked, "Sorry, professor, does the password of your quarters by chance have something to do with my mother?"

A sad smile flashed over the teacher's face, when he slightly nodded his head. "She was the most kind, intelligent, beautiful, and forgiving woman you could meet."

"So you didn't hate her like you hated my father, sir?" Harry croaked, giving the professor an anxious look.

"No, I didn't hate her," Severus replied while he searched for Lily's eyes in the boy's face, noticing that they were dull and glassy tonight. "I met your mother when we entered primary school. She was in my year, and she was living nearby. We often played together in the afternoon. Somehow, I knew immediately that she was a witch, but she didn't know that, and when I told her that she was a witch and I was a wizard, her sister became very upset at me, shouting that her cute sister wasn't a bitch and that she wouldn't play with me anymore. Lily however understood what I meant, and we became the best friends you could imagine."

Seeing that Harry was listening intensely, he continued, "We even remained good friends during our time at Hogwarts, until I made a huge mistake. And then she married Potter."

"Did you... love her?" Harry enquired softly, trying to suppress a shiver.

"Yes," Severus admitted. "She was the love of my life." He sat back a bit and sighed. "Mr. Potter, if you ever tell anyone about what I told you, you will make an experience that will be worse than everything you came to know so far. Do you understand me?"

Shivering even more, Harry replied, "I promise, Professor, that I won't speak about this to anyone. Thanks for sharing this with me, sir. I really appreciate it."

Severus gave the child a piercing look. Pearls of sweat were forming on his forehead, and his cheeks were feverishly flushed. His eyes were glazed over and surrounded by dark rings. "What did Madam Pomfrey diagnose when she admitted you here?" he questioned the boy softly.

"She said it was a cold, but it didn't go away even after two doses of pepper-up potion, and when Professor McGonagall sent me here again, she just kept me here."

"Would you mind if I checked on you? I believe that it is much worse than a cold," Severus replied, pulling his wand out of his robe pocket as soon as Harry gave him a weary nod. He waved his wand at the boy and finally peered into his throat and ears, before he pocketed his wand and sighed. "You have a throat and ear infection, accompanied by a very high fever. I'm sorry that I sent you to fetch the potion for me from the dungeons; that probably aggravated your condition even further. I will give you a potion against the infection and another one against the fever, and then you'll probably be able to sleep." He quickly fetched the two potions and a goblet of cold water, gently helped Harry to sit up just enough to swallow everything he held to his lips.

Harry sighed in relief as he felt the pain recede and his body cool down. With surprise, he noticed that the professor remained seated on the edge of his bed, bathing his hot face with a cool cloth. When he finally drifted off to sleep a few minutes later, he felt very happy, knowing that there was someone, who cared enough to watch over him until he finally would be able to sleep.

**The End**

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_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to __Mrs. Rowling__, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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